I believe the instructions clearly say to burn it in straight-up at 350F for 1hr with no food products whatsoever first. At least mine sure did, and I could smell some non-wood products burning initially. Usually the manufacturer, especially Yoder, can be trusted with their instructions.

Or are you asking for advice AFTERwards? There's a good bit of stuff that has the potential to burn off before you do a first cook. After you do a 1st burn-in, most people do a bacon or biscuit cook to check out the hot zones. I never bothered to do this, and still need to go back and do it with some cheap bacon. But I'm lazy.

I mean, there's TONS of stuff to break it in with. But what are you looking for? Do you have a goal other than just cooking food?

If you're looking for hotspots, go with the bacon test, for sure. That or biscuits, but bacon is way cheaper per unit quantity.

Now, as for something to cook on it for your inaugural celebration? Man, I dunno, that's up to you! I believe I started off with a triple pack of spare ribs from Costco, which turned out pretty well. The biggest cook I've ever done on there was a 14lb whole packer brisket that took 16.5hrs. The beauty in that particular cook was that I barely lost any sleep over it. Tossed it on at midnight, and just gave it a check at 4am and 7am just to be sure nothing crazy had happened.

I'm actually sitting here debating right now what I want to cook this weekend, as I'm making a trip to Costco later. I've never done country style ribs so that would be interesting for sure.

1 last thing -- don't forget steaks! The Yoder will show you what reverse searing a steak is truly about. A nice smoke @ 170-180 til the internal steak temp is 110ish, then wrap it in foil and a towel, crank that bitch to 500F with the aluminum grill grates on, and sear for 90 secs each side! I usually have my distributor plate removed before even doing the 170F smoke, just because it's a pain in the ass trying to remove it at that hot a temp.

I mean, there's TONS of stuff to break it in with. But what are you looking for? Do you have a goal other than just cooking food?

If you're looking for hotspots, go with the bacon test, for sure. That or biscuits, but bacon is way cheaper per unit quantity.

Now, as for something to cook on it for your inaugural celebration? Man, I dunno, that's up to you! I believe I started off with a triple pack of spare ribs from Costco, which turned out pretty well. The biggest cook I've ever done on there was a 14lb whole packer brisket that took 16.5hrs. The beauty in that particular cook was that I barely lost any sleep over it. Tossed it on at midnight, and just gave it a check at 4am and 7am just to be sure nothing crazy had happened.

I'm actually sitting here debating right now what I want to cook this weekend, as I'm making a trip to Costco later. I've never done country style ribs so that would be interesting for sure.

1 last thing -- don't forget steaks! The Yoder will show you what reverse searing a steak is truly about. A nice smoke @ 170-180 til the internal steak temp is 110ish, then wrap it in foil and a towel, crank that bitch to 500F with the aluminum grill grates on, and sear for 90 secs each side! I usually have my distributor plate removed before even doing the 170F smoke, just because it's a pain in the ass trying to remove it at that hot a temp.

I mainly want to find the hot zones and have a get to know you initial cook. I have a three pack of BB ribs in the freezer that I plan on smoking soon after.

I've never smoked brisket (that will soon change). I like to start the chicken off at 225 for the first hour to hour and a half, then bump it up to 350. My method may change with the pellet (we'll find out).

During my research I read that the meat doesn't have enough smoke flavor when cooked on a pellet. I bought the A-Maze-Smoke-Tube just in case, I've been wanting to cold smoke too. I didn't get the direct grill package (mistake?). I couldn't pull the trigger since I have an indoor grill and my charcoal grill outside.

I've done two 7.5lb shoulders in my duel-fuel smoker twice. I tried with charcoal and had to babysit the smoker for 20 hours . Propane was a bit better but I still didn't have much time to do anything other than monitor the smoker (temp issues). So the thought of setting the temp and it maintains it is a godsend.

Hello roharris33 After your initial burn in (as per instructions) Take some cooking oil and I like to mix some bacon drippings in with it, put in a spray bottle and spray the grates and inside of the smoker, You can use just plane cooking oil or like spray Pam, I like the bacon grease and oil mix. fire it back up, I'd get it up to 300 -325 or a little hotter if you like and let it go for an hour or so. That is what we usually do and sometimes add some bacon ends cook them till their crunchy.. This is what is called seasoning your smoker. The first burn (per instructions) gets rid of all the metal smells. New metal is coated usually with a thin film of oil, the burning out gets rid of that plus any other odors that may by on the meta, (WD 40, oil, cleaner, etc.)

Hello roharris33 After your initial burn in (as per instructions) Take some cooking oil and I like to mix some bacon drippings in with it, put in a spray bottle and spray the grates and inside of the smoker, You can use just plane cooking oil or like spray Pam, I like the bacon grease and oil mix. fire it back up, I'd get it up to 300 -325 or a little hotter if you like and let it go for an hour or so. That is what we usually do and sometimes add some bacon ends cook them till their crunchy.. This is what is called seasoning your smoker. The first burn (per instructions) gets rid of all the metal smells. New metal is coated usually with a thin film of oil, the burning out gets rid of that plus any other odors that may by on the meta, (WD 40, oil, cleaner, etc.)

I was seriously considering a Yoder so read up on a lot of info. Still interested but can't justify the bucks right now. However, I found many vids on youtube using the Yoder...break-in, seasoning, first smoke, steaks...etc etc. You might find those interesting...just type in Yoder in the search bar